Raymond James Financial Inc. Buys New Position in Equity LifeStyle Properties, Inc. (NYSE:ELS)

Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in Equity LifeStyle Properties, Inc. (NYSE:ELS - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm purchased 101,525 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock, valued at approximately $6,762,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. owned approximately 0.05% of Equity LifeStyle Properties as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in ELS. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its holdings in Equity LifeStyle Properties by 172.0% during the 4th quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 6,070,817 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $404,319,000 after acquiring an additional 3,838,809 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its position in shares of Equity LifeStyle Properties by 3.2% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 4,761,879 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $339,713,000 after purchasing an additional 147,332 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Equity LifeStyle Properties by 1.7% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,833,596 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $273,014,000 after buying an additional 65,191 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in Equity LifeStyle Properties by 4.6% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,553,330 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $170,052,000 after buying an additional 112,139 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Daiwa Securities Group Inc. grew its holdings in Equity LifeStyle Properties by 370.6% during the 3rd quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 2,329,431 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $166,182,000 after buying an additional 1,834,491 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 97.21% of the company's stock.

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Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have recently issued reports on ELS shares. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded Equity LifeStyle Properties from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and upped their price objective for the company from $66.00 to $73.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. Evercore ISI decreased their price target on shares of Equity LifeStyle Properties from $74.00 to $73.00 and set an "in-line" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. Robert W. Baird boosted their price objective on shares of Equity LifeStyle Properties from $72.00 to $73.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their target price on shares of Equity LifeStyle Properties from $69.00 to $68.00 and set a "sector perform" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, January 29th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group upgraded Equity LifeStyle Properties from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and boosted their price target for the company from $72.00 to $80.00 in a report on Thursday, January 2nd. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $73.78.

Equity LifeStyle Properties Trading Down 2.1 %

Shares of ELS stock traded down $1.44 on Thursday, reaching $65.74. 2,822,166 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,228,377. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $66.98 and a two-hundred day moving average of $68.70. The stock has a market cap of $12.57 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.71, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.02 and a beta of 0.79. The company has a quick ratio of 0.03, a current ratio of 0.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15. Equity LifeStyle Properties, Inc. has a 1-year low of $59.82 and a 1-year high of $76.60.

Equity LifeStyle Properties (NYSE:ELS - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Monday, January 27th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.76 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting analysts' consensus estimates of $0.76. Equity LifeStyle Properties had a net margin of 24.05% and a return on equity of 23.12%. On average, research analysts anticipate that Equity LifeStyle Properties, Inc. will post 3.07 EPS for the current year.

Equity LifeStyle Properties Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 11th. Investors of record on Friday, March 28th will be issued a dividend of $0.515 per share. This is a positive change from Equity LifeStyle Properties's previous quarterly dividend of $0.48. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 28th. This represents a $2.06 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.13%. Equity LifeStyle Properties's payout ratio is presently 105.64%.

Equity LifeStyle Properties Company Profile

Equity LifeStyle Properties, Inc is a real estate investment trust, which engages in the ownership and operation of lifestyle-oriented properties consisting primarily of manufactured home, and recreational vehicle communities. It operates through the following segments: Property Operations and Home Sales and Rentals Operations.